The best World Cup ever! This World Cup Was Won By The Church!

Two years ago we started our team JOCUM KICKOFF and began preparing: the website, a blog, Power Point presentations with information and prayerpoints on the 32 nations participating in The World Cup, meetings with the coordinators of the 12 World Cup match venues, scoring materials in various languages, developing material against human trafficking: school programs, video clips, documentaries etc., and now.... it's all over!

"This World Cup Was Won By The Church!"

What has happened? Thousands of young people from local churches along with international teams of young people took to the streets to evangelize, pray, dance and sing. They used many different strategies to combat human trafficking and sexual exploitation, including handing out 37.300 red cards which had the phone number to dial and report the crime. Others did short dramas at traffic lights; some painted the faces of the fans while they talked about ways to combat sexual exploitation. A curriculum, "Libertodos", was developed to raise awareness of and stand against sexual exploitation. This curriculum is now being presented in our schools. A team traveled by bus to 8 of the twelve venue cities to show a documentary film against human trafficking. And in each of the 12 cities a prayer room was available 24/7.






"This Word Cup was won by the church!" said Regiane, one of the YWAM leaders who works among the women in brothels in Belo Horizonte. We were together in the worship service in the prayer room which was crowded with young people from many churches. 1.500 intercessors had prayed in those rooms for 720 hours. Regiane was beaming, "I could write a whole book of the wonderful things that have happened," she said, "We are so grateful to God."




"Exceeded our Expectations"

We called all of the leaders and organizers in the other eleven World Cup cities and everyone said the same thing: "Exceeded expectations". So much has been accomplished. In our last count 196.400 people were reached by 5650 volunteers. We worked together with 244 different churches. Several cities had campaigns focused on distributing Bibles in every home in many under-served communities. All together 191.000 Bibles and booklets were handed out. A lot of results we will not see until the future because so much were seeds that were planted in the form of Bibles, magazines, brochures and even cookies with Bible verses. We are praying that the Holy Spirit will use these seeds to convince people of God's love for them.






The fact that Brazil did not win The World Cup was a shame. The 7-1 loss to Germany was a shock. No one expected it. But soon we saw our motto appearing in all kinds of advertisements "Our passion goes beyond soccer," The Lord Jesus is our passion! Hundreds of young people participated in training with ministry events during this time and many have applied now to do a DTS (Discipleship Training School). The enthusiasm is contagious.


Thank You Very Much!
Our thanks goes to a long list of people:

• Our national KICKOFF team who worked with dedication. You're the best! God has anointed you with special gifts and it was wonderful to see how you used these gifts and skills and how they were developed during this time. 
• All KICKOFF coordinators, grassroots leaders, and other YWAM staff who worked so hard. International and national teams were met with great hospitality. Space where there had been none was created. You were available to day and night to reach the masses, but also the individuals with the love of God the Father. We are very proud of our YWAM family. 
• Our national and international partners, churches and organizations, too many mention them all by name; it was spectacular to work with you towards a singular goal: To magnify the name of Jesus! 
• All national and international teams that have invested time and money to work in the 12 cities in outreach and human trafficking and sexual exploitation awareness, identifying with the longing of God's heart in this area. 
• The people who sent finances and sustained us in prayer. Without you nothing here would have been possible. 

And above all our thanks goes to the Lord God, who has strengthened us every day, guided us and loved us more than we can imagine.

To watch a video clip of our best photos during this time, click here.

What's next? We have plans for the Olympics in 2016 in Rio de Janeiro! Look here to find out what we are planning from January to September 2016.

Thank you and God bless!

How can we stop the sexual exploration and human trafficking?

Today a post written by our daughter Michele Lukasse de Almeida

Last Saturday (July 28th), I had the opportunity to join the YWAM Kickoff team before the Brazil vs Chile´s match at the Mineirão Stadium in the city of Belo Horizonte.

Through face painting, we could shed some light on sexual exploitation and human trafficking problem.

The goal was to raise awareness and while we were painting faces we talked with fans about human trafficking and sexual exploitation. While we were doing all this, I realized that many people supported our cause, but they had no idea what to do. Many of them didn´t know how to report, either to call #100 to Sexual Exploitations or Sexual Abuse reports. Others blamed on foreigners who are here for the World Cup consuming sexual services or simply on the government. 

But the truth is that great part of the blame is ours! Brazil is our country and what happens here should be of interest and concern to each one of us! 

We also received good answers when we asked to people if they knew how to fight against this problem. Som of the answers we got were: To report, raise awareness, educate and impose exemplary punishment by law forces... 

But only at the end of the day I got the two answers I was waiting for: "Stop Consuming" and "To Pray".

Everytime a porn-magazine is bought, a porn-webite is visited, sexual services are payed; the sexual exploitation activity is  geting increased, improved and people envolved get encouraged. 

If the demand decreases also the offer will decline! 

The solution is at our fingertips! When we understand the fact that people are not - and should not be - sale, our eyes will get opened and our attitudes will change!

And praying is ours most effective weapon against all evil! 

Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the powers of darkness in the heavenly realms. We have a relational God who is always by our side, is our greatest ally and the most interested for the end of this evil. In our prayers we shared victories, mourn losses, we support to each other... supporting those who are working in the field... trough praying we get connected with the Creator and receive his strategies.

Let´s pray to God turn the hearts of the trafficker, brake their mean intentions and open the eyes of consumers... to protect and rescue victims and restore families!

We could paint and speak to more than 500 people and I could see the Body of Christ working together to bring joy to God´heart. 

I came back home with a joyful and fulfilled heart.

Half of the World Cup is finished... but who is our passion?

Half of The World Cup is finished and several national soccer teams have returned home, but Brazil and Holland are moving on. Many people ask us which team we root for and as you can see by Johan`s soccer sweater the answer is, both! But if you ask about our passion, then that is different because it extends beyond the borders of countries, our passion is the Lord Jesus!



It has been wonderful to hear so many great stories from all the 12 host cities of  The World Cup these last few weeks and here are several we would like to share from Belo Horizonte.

Women who work in the prostitution area in Belo Horizonte became much more open after YWAM missionaries played soccer with them on their team. The women have started going to the 24/7 prayer room (a ministry of Exodus Cry) to hear more about Jesus and some of them have given their lives to Jesus.



In the poor communities, favelas, where we have YWAM community centers,  we set up a few giant tv screens which we borrowed from Athletes in Action. The entire neighborhood was invited to come, and people showed up with their whole families. It has been a great success. Before and after the games and during halftime, the YWAM missionaries and members from visiting teams gave their testimonies of what Jesus means to them. Various people have already given their lives to Jesus.  



Around the stadiums, we have had big evangelistic outreaches. We gave out red cards against sexual exploitation, played drums, sang songs, preached, performed dramas etc. Every day we share new posts on the YWAM Kickoff Facebook page





Teams are coming and going until the middle of August. Young people from churches and many YWAM DTS (Discipleship Training Schools) teams from all around the world are here for this key time in Brazil to glorify the name of Jesus and preach the Gospel of the Kingdom of God. In Brazil alone there are about 1300 fulltime YWAM missionaries and it is fantastic to be able to work together in unity with so many different people.



We have one team that is traveling to 8 of the host cities of the World Cup. They made a documentary about Human Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation in Brazil. They are showing the documentary with their bus in public squares, beaches etc. so that people can be made aware of what is happening and with the hope that they will join the fight against this great evil. You can watch the documentary yourself if you click on this link.

The following pictures speak for themselves. (They were taken by Felipe Matias, YWAM missionary, and a gifted photographer)







Please continue to pray for us and all the national and international teams, that we will be able to proclaim the word of God, and that people will be convinced of the love of Jesus.

Thank you and God bless, 

Johan and Jeannette Lukasse and the Kickoff team

Documentary "1 Real" fights trafficking in Belo Horizonte

Stop modern slavery in our time!
Let´s say no to sexual exploitation!
We don`t want Brazil to be a destination for sex tourism!
Don't just protect our natural resources when you visit our country: Protect Our Children!

All these slogans flash through my mind as I reflect on the visit from team of 1 Real, 27 Million and others here in Belo Horizonte. They brought with them an excellent documentary which we showed outdoors in one of the most famous squares here in Belo. The setting was a picturesque park with a backdrop of the mountainous horizon.

Setting up

Volunteers showed short trailers on Ipads to invite the young people on the square

Many people stopped to watch the film, but what really caught my attention was a group of young people who usually just come to the square to hang out. They stopped everything to watch the film. I was impressed as I listened to their indignant commentaries as the story of sexual exploitation in Brazil unfolded before them. It was very clear that the message that we, the filmmakers, and the visiting team wanted to convey was well understood by this diverse audience.     

Congratulations to the team that produced this documentary. The filmmakers and the traveling team and their bus are now in Brasilia and will travel to Fortaleza tomorrow. You can follow them as they travel to 8 more of the host cities of The 2014 World Cup. Click here to follow them on their journey.
And click here to see the complete documentary.
 

IHOP 24/7 prayer and worship rooms in all the World Cup cities

… If my people, called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face, I will hear from heaven and I will forgive their sin and heal their land…

   

In the red light districts of the city of Belo Horizonte and all the other 11 host cities of The World Cup, a special project had its initial kickoff....the opening of the  24/7 Prayer Rooms of Exodus Cry (a ministry of IHOP).

The people of God in Brazil have waited and longed for this day, just as the world watched, waited and expected the opening of The World Cup. Hoping that the body of Christ would mobilize and begin to wear their priestly garments;

"... Between Sanctuary entrance and altar

    let the priests, God's servants, weep tears of repentance.

Let them intercede: "Have mercy, God, on your people!

    Do not abandon your heritage to contempt.

Do not let the pagans take over and rule them

    and sneer, 'And so where is this God of theirs? "

One at that, God went into action to get his land back.

    I took pity on his people ... "(Joel 2: 17-18 MSG)

During the next 31 days much of the world's attention will be focused on The World Cup, but it will also be a time when worship and prayer of The Church in Brazil will not stop for 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Their cry for salvation for Brazilians and all the other nations, their cry for freedom for those who are imprisoned and oppressed will burst forth from The Church.

We´ll pray, because faith moves mountains!

1 Real - The other side of the coin.

Hey, check it out!

This week the bus with the production crew of the documentary “1Real – The Other aside Of The Coin” (a film about the reality of sexual exploration and human trafficking in Brazil) arrived here at our YWAM Belo Horizonte base. The crew exists of missionaries from YWAM and 27Million ( an organization that fights against human trafficking), students of a YWAM Mexico  DTS (Disciple Training School), and some volunteers from local churches. JOCUM Belo Horizonte added another YWAM staff member to the team to travel with them for the remainder of their time in Brazil.

The plan is to go to 8 of the 12 World Cup host cities, partnering with the YWAM bases there and evangelize, pray and educate to promote the end of sexual exploitation in Brazil. So now, in addition to all the other outreach opportunities, we have a bus with a YWAM team working in 8 other cities during in the World Cup! 

We encourage you to follow our bus tour and if you are in a city where they are, please go out and join them!!!

Brasília- June 20th-22nd

**Fortaleza

Recife

Salvador

Rio de janeiro

São Paulo

**The remainder of the schedule will be posted ASAP.